“Oh, you had me at sale, ” she purred again.
Ethan smiled and rang up the watch for her.
“Just so you know,” she said, leaning in close like she had a secret to tell. “I would have paid full price for it.”
Ethan had a feeling she would have, but he admired how she ’ d see n something she wanted and went for it without hesitation.
He looked back at the woman in the lingerie store and counted the minutes until closing time.
Chapter Three
This time when Lana looked in the watch salesman’s direction, he was helping a customer. A female customer. Little pangs of jealousy tingled through her body. His back was turned to Lana as h e helped the woman pick out a watch. The woman laughed at something he said and took out her wallet. He looked in Lana’s direction, gave her a wink and tu r ned back to his customer.
Lana smiled to herself. Even though he was helping a woman, he was still thinking of her. Good. She would be sure to reward him later for his attentiveness.
Just then, a man dressed all in black walked into the lingerie store. He had an emo hairstyle with bangs falling into his eyes and a spiked collar around his neck. Obviously out of his element, Lana turned on the charm.
“Hi,” she greeted him with a smile. “Can I help you find something?”
He smiled weakly at her. “I hope so. I’m looking for a birthday gift for my fiance.” He pushed his bangs off his face and they immediately fell back down into his eyes.
“Okay,” Lana said and led him over to the Va Va Vamp Collection. “These corsets are really popular.” She picked up a red corset to show him the lace trim detail. “ T hey come in a variety of different colors, too.”
His faced turned the color of the crimson satin and he shuffled his feet. “Yeah, that’s cool and everything, but she’d probably like something a little more…”
“Feminine?”
“Yeah.” He looked relieved that she had read his mind.
“Sure. ” Lana moved over to the Babydoll Dreams Collection. “ How about something like this?” She chose a frilly lace babydoll with a pink satin bow and held it up.
He grinned and nodded. “ She’d love that.”
A short time later, when another male customer strode into the store, a big smile spread across Lana’s face. The man was young, tall and extremely athletic. He was probably one of those hockey players who played for the Red Valley Razors. Lana liked athletes. Anyone who worked up a sweat for a living definitely captured her interest.
“ Are you looking for something in particular?” Lana asked him sweetly.
“Yeah.” He hooked h is sunglasses into the neck of his tee shirt and looked around the store. “ I’m looking for something for my girlfriend. It’s our anniversary and I know she’s expecting something special.”
“Well, you came to the right place. We have lots of special items.” Taking a chance, she led him to the Rock S tar Collection and showed him something edgy to start off with. “How about something like this?” she asked, holding up a vinyl bustier with black ribbon lacing.
He smiled. “That’s perfect. She’s really into that rock ‘n ’ roll stuff. How’d you guess?”
“Oh,” Lana said, cocking her head to the side. “I just have an eye for these things.”
He shot her another knee-weakening smile and then it faded away. “The only thing is…I have no idea what size she is. Shit. I guess that’s something I should probably know.”
“That’s okay,” Lana reassured him with a pat on the arm. Oooh, nice muscles. “What size are her breasts compared to mine?”
The athlete frowned and looked down at Lana’s chest.
She turned to the side so he could survey her from every angle.
He tilted his head from side to side and pursed his lips. “Um, they’re probably a little bit smaller.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah,” he decided. “Just a little, but not by much.”
“She’s probably a C cup then.” Lana selected a bustier in the corresponding size and led him over to the register. “I’ll gift wrap it for you and if it ends up being the wrong size, she can always exchange it.”
“Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.”
Lana smiled and handed him the gift bag. “It was my pleasure.”
A glance at the watch kiosk reaffirmed Lana’s hunch. He was still watching her. In fact, his gaze bore right through her clothes and she could almost feel his eyes directly on her skin from across the mall. She shivered in anticipation and focused her attention back to the customer leaving the store.
There were still a couple of hours until closing time and she planned on making the most of them.
Inside the lingerie store, the woman giggled with a male customer and the sound of her laughter floated out of the store to torment Ethan ’s ears.
He gulped and tried to get a handle on his equilibrium. It was still too ea rly in the evening to lose control.
Then, s he put her hand on the man’s arm, threw her head back and laughed. Oh yeah, she was really laying it on thick.
Every instinct Ethan had screamed for him to go over there and rip her away from the tall, muscular schmuck. He wondered how much extra business she made just from flirting with the customers. He quickly pushed the thought away because he was often guilty of the same tactic.
That still didn’t change the fact that she was blatantly flirting with another man.
She made Ethan want to dash across the mall, knock over every one in his way (old ladies and small children included), storm into her store and bury himself inside her right there on the ugly pink carpet.
Unfortunately, t here were still too many people around inside the mall. B ut soon- just not soon enough — the mall would be closing and then, only then, would Ethan make his move.
Chapter Four
As closing time approached, Lana’s glances at her watch increased. Would her not — so — secret admirer finally approach her now that it was close to quitting time?
Hoping to push him along in his decision, s he dropped a hanger on the floor and made a show of picking it back up.
Wait a minute. The watch salesman’s eyes weren’t the only ones on her. Oh no, Lana could definitely sense that someone else was watching too. Hmm, who could it be?
She scanned the other shops and locked eyes with a guy working in the video game store directly across the mall. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen and his tongue was hanging out like some goofy cartoon character.
Lana wiggled her fingers in a coy little wave and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He jerked his head in the other direction and scurried back around the counter to become super interested in what was on his computer screen.
Okay, so h e just wanted to watch, not participate. Fair enough. That still left one pair of eyes to watch her every move.
Lana shrugged and went back to organizing the new arrivals by size. When she was finished, s he flipped through the display and admir ed the bras. S topping at a n indigo blue one, she held it up, shook her head and put
